Monday, November 21, 2011

Is Western Civilization Too Civilized?

From banning jungle gyms and monkey bars to eliminating tackle football, American schools have slowly been removing any potential danger from our children's lives. Some schools have gone so far as to eliminate swings and slides, lest some poor child get hurt. Though girls are affected by the weakening of the American child, most of the activities being suppressed on the schoolyard are aimed at boys. But leave it to Canada to lead the way to the complete neutering of Western boys. They've taken away their balls.

The feminization of American males has been going on for decades since the rise of radical feminism. But sadly, even those who should know better have often joined in the blurring of natural biological differences between boys and girls, men and women. One Harvard president was even booted out of his post for daring to suggest that males tend to lean more toward the hard sciences than females.

Toronto public schools are now ball-less. Nerf balls are OK, but no longer will the kids be threatened by oncoming projectiles such as footballs, baseballs, volleyballs, or any ball with an exterior harder than Jell-O. I remember when I was playing football in elementary school, and I somehow got lined up against the biggest kid of them all. I prepared for death. But I was faster than he was, and managed to get out of his way. And I was nowhere near the ball. I don't think having the quarterback throwing a nerf football would have altered my fear one iota. As for baseball, I became a great hitter simply because the alternative was that the leather-bound rock being hurled from the mound would hit me instead of the bat. I survived.

I'm hoping the action in Toronto doesn't metastasize into America, but I'm not holding my breath. No wonder the jihadists think Americans are pushovers. Fortunately, our military has no such delusions about life being without danger. Life itself is about calculated risk. Boys tend to be greater risk-takers than girls. There are plenty of tough girls out there, but on the whole, boys tend to be the daredevils. They are overall more prone to competition, particularly physical competition. Take that away from them, and you get two types of male adults--the effete pinky-finger French wine drinker and the street thug.

Future Christian warriors are being told by their namby-pamby pastors, weak-kneed mothers and metrosexualized fathers that violence never solves anything. Well, tell that to the Japanese and the Germans. Rough schoolyard play, including those hard balls, are part of learning how to take necessary risks while avoiding injury as best you can. As the Duke of Wellington said, "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." Instead, we are converting our children into the boy in the plastic bubble. Nothing, not even the smallest virus or bacterium must ever reach them. Remove the plastic bubble, and our children are exposed to all kinds of nasty dangers to which they have no defense.

Bullies and jihadists count on the other children being weak and submissive. A boy who hasn't learned how to dodge a foul ball isn't likely to grow up to know how to dodge a bullet. And he sure as hell isn't going to know how to fight back. Those who have not learned to face the dangers of a flying baseball bat or an oncoming linebacker haven't learned to dodge the hardballs of life or to hit them out of the park. They also haven't learned what differentiates Western civilization from Middle East barbarism--the rules of the game and good sportsmanship. To win honorably or suffer defeat graciously, knowing you've lived to fight another day. It is not the inherent danger that makes a boy a man, but how he handles it.

So to the American schoolmasters who teach left wing propaganda, gender confusion, rabid egalitarianism, cooperation without competition and childhood sexualization, I say "keep your hands off our kids' balls."

Note: It's annual physical checkup day at the doctor's office. Since the doctor's office is over an hour away, and the appointment is at 2 PM Pacific Time, I'm afraid I won't be getting to your comments until late in the day. My apologies, but I will respond as soon as I can.

37 comments:

Jocelyn said...

This kind of stuff really irks me. I'm not even 30, but playing tag football/softball/volleyball etc was a fun way to spend your recess, builds alot of character and skill and you don't eve know you're doing it! Now all the kids are going to do is bully each other, a lot more now than they have because, what else are they going to do?

I really hate that "everyone is a winner" too, everyone must receive a trophy, just for participating, really? It kind of belittles the winners and the losers. I would fear for my kids if this was happening in the States, I sure hope it doesn't.

AndrewPrice said...

Of course, this is Canada so maybe they just want kids to focus on pucks.

StanH said...

This is what created Barry’s Brats aka OWS. These delicate little flowers have no chance of survival in the real world…by design I might add. One of the little fools had a $200,000.00 degree in drama, from one of the finest schools of course (pinkies lifting in the air). Since she has a degree in drama, she believes she should have a play on Broadway, and if not the government should supply her with a play. No mention of sweat equity from this precious child, just entitlement…pitiful. It is the rare occasion indeed where someone reaches the pinnacle of a career, like Broadway, without busting ass for years before achieving that kind of success. “Little Lord Faultnoroy,” or Gainsborough’s “The Blue Boy,” is the perfect illustration for this piece. We are breeding effete little metro-sexual cry babies, who are scared of their shadows. The good news, it’s a small but vocal minority, you get away from the blue hives and men are still men, and women are still women.

Joel Farnham said...

The feminizing of the world.

Since it involves keeping "the children" SAFE, we are supposed to accept it. That is the mantra. The problem is what are we keeping them safe from? Hard balls? At what point will our children become tough enough to face the future?

Part of our culture is training "the children" for their future. This taking away of the hard balls because of the inevitability of a child being hurt, says that the so called adults have not taught the children how to handle the hard balls thrown their way. This coddling does nothing for the children and keeps the adults teaching the children from being sued. Which really means the "teacher/adults" are the ones this idiotic idea is protecting.

Anonymous said...

I admit when I was in elementary school (...and middle school... and high school). I would've craved this kind of legislation. The point I'm trying to make is that I sucked at sports and P.E. class was Hell on Earth for me. :-)

HOWEVER, I agree this is wrong, especially the removal of jungle gyms and other playground equipment. I'm thankful I managed to get out of school before all of this started to happen.

And to think, I had a cap gun when I was a kid!

Tehachapi Tom said...

Hawk
I still remember the first fight I got into. It was third grade and the other kid, I thought belonged in fourth or fifth. He was the bully of our class. I got hit once and evaded all the rest but he did not do as good at evasion. When the rest of the boys started cheering me on I really beat him badly. Neither his parents nor mine addressed anything to the school or each other.By the fifth grade the same fellow had become a friend and we did not show any wear for our ordeal. I did not turn out to be a pugilist and neither did he. Boys will be boys and should be allowed to be just that.
I suppose next will be to outlaw scooters and bicycles since it is possible to scrape ones knee if you hit a crack in the road and fall down.

rlaWTX said...

While I understand the reasoning, I think this kinda goes with car seat/booster seat rules too.

The only sport I was good at was football, and girls didn't get to play much. But I HATED dodge ball and softball. But that was PE where the sport was mandated.

Recess wouldn't have been the same without kickball, tetherball (too short, but loved it) and 4-square, and swings and jungle gyms... and we used ROCKS to play hopscotch! Not to mention just imagining (I was Princess Leia all through 2nd grade recess with my "boyfriend" and his best friend as Luke & Chewy respectively)

Individualist said...

Funny thing is Lawhawk

While the schools are taking away footballs and BB guns from kids we see the high school kids on YouTube gaining up and beating people up and filming it for the masses.

Even girls are now doing this. So if this is supposed to keep our children from being violent why does the violence keep escalating among the children.

Seems like a disconnect doesn't it.

Joel Farnham said...

LawHawk,

Individualist touched on a point that shows that no one in authority understands what children are and what the human animal really is. They are savages.

Yes, sure I would like to think that children are nice and gentle and need to be pushed into destroying things. Truth is, they do that on their own. They are not the little darlings that we like to think they are. How they can destroy something that is solidly built without getting hurt themselves is a wonder to behold. They still manage it.

Until the sixties, children were systematically taught simple things, like if the kid breaks something, the kid will get hurt by the parent spanking the kid. This was considered cruel and unusual. Bull. It was usual until we got people who actually think that kids are pure and perfect first.

Kids aren't. They only know and do what feels good. The ones who become civilized are the ones who understand that if they did bad things, bad things happen to them. They understood this at a subconscious level instilled in them at an early age where they can't understand words, but they can understand pain.

The ones who are instructed in this manner become civilized. The ones who aren't may become civilized.

I think Dr Spock should have been brought out behind the barn and taught civilized behavior. As it is, he has destroyed many children with his abusive book.

Tehachapi Tom said...

Joel
Yes we like to think our little darlings are sweet and gentle spirited.
In answer to that read Lord Of The Flies.
Tots are youths are not.

T-Rav said...

On a related note, I read the other day that kids whose parents allowed them to play in the dirt and so on were far less likely to develop allergies later on than those who had been sheltered from such filth. Yet another example of the consequences of living in a bubble and of how everything we know about child-raising is wrong.

Unknown said...

Jocelyn: I remember having a lot of fun at an early age playing dodgeball, and the whole point of that game is to hit someone with the ball. I agree with you on both the bullying and the "everyone is a winner" nonsense as well.

Unknown said...

Andrew: Could be. After all, their national motto is "go puck yourself."

Joel Farnham said...

Tom,

How about the suppressed portion of the long-term study of second hand smoke? The part where children exposed to second hand smoke were less likely to get lung cancer than the parent even if the child picks up smoking later on in life.

Unknown said...

Stan: A great description of the "entitlement generation." Here in the red Kern County mountains, they wouldn't dare ban these things, and most of the kids also get horseback and roping lessons. Wait 'till one of those OWS wimps has a half-ton horse land on him.

Unknown said...

Joel: True, but if one of the little darlings gets a boo-boo, there are plenty of ambulance-chasers out there to make them whole. Please add the lawyers into the teacher/parents formula.

Unknown said...

Scott: The problem with many schools is that games like tackle football and [hard] baseball are not even allowed as voluntary activities. I can understand that some kids just aren't athletic, and would prefer to stay out of harm's way. But that shouldn't prevent other kids from playing the games they want. If kids don't have jungle gyms and monkey bars, they'll just sneak off the school grounds and find a tree where they can really get hurt.

Unknown said...

Tehachapi Tom: The worst part is that with these idiotic rules, when a bully beats up on a smaller kid trying to defend himself, they both get in trouble. The smaller kids is just supposed to take it and report it later. That has now translated to the adult world where you must never defend yourself, but rather wait until the blood has washed out of your eyes, call 9-1-1, and wait for the police to arrive in an hour or so.

Unknown said...

rlaWTX: I wonder if they even let kids roller skate on school grounds anymore. We used to have a weekly thing at my elementary school, and we got going pretty good on some of those long concrete walkways.

Unknown said...

Indi: I'm very much of the philosophy that if you don't provide good physical games for the kids to work off their energy, they'll find other ways that are equally creative but far less civilized.

Unknown said...

Tehachapi Tom: In regards to your comment to Joel--right on. Lord of the Flies is a great example. Kids can be smart, and mimic adults for awhile, but left to their own unsupervised devices, they will quickly forget the rules of civilization which took thousands of years to develop.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: My mother had all kinds of early twentieth century sayings. She believed in hygiene (wash your hands before you come to supper), but she also believed that kids needed to be exposed to the natural world. The expression was: "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die." Another thing they used to do, is if a kid got chicken pox in the neighborhood, every mom sent their own kids to visit, hopefully getting the disease at the same time. Chicken pox was mild, if annoying, but they had few cures for it, and if you got it as an adult, you were in serious trouble. We were all proud of our chicken pox scars.

Joel Farnham said...

I meant to T-Rav. Sorry. Still the point is made that people in science, as well as other disciplines will lie, cheat and steal if not held to account. Dr Spock should have been held to account for his massive screw-up. Canadians schools should be held to account for their massive screw-ups. Our schools should be held to account for their massive screw-ups.

Recess was always to get children to use up their energy. One of the worse things in this world is being cooped up during the winter with children who are bored.

Unknown said...

Joel: I know you addressed your remark to Tom and T-Rav, but I just have to praise my alma mater. UC Berkeley/San Francisco Med Center is one of the university research facilities which accidentally proved that kids exposed to second-hand smoke are less likely to contract lung cancer and other lung diseases. They were trying their damndest over many years and a huge patient sampling to prove the opposite, but they were at least honest enough to publish the results, even if the public never heard about it. Which study did you get the info from?

The globaloney about climate-change is a perfect example. The junk scientists will say and do anything as long as they are well-paid and subsidized to come up with the conclusion the government wants. They are science whores.

Tehachapi Tom said...

Hawk
I still will not wait for the police or authorities of any sort to respond.
Our motto is "We do not call 911"
our first responder is Glock 40 S&W.

Unknown said...

Tehachapi Tom: I prefer to utilize 3-5-7, but any number works faster and is more effective than 9-1-1.

tryanmax said...

I've never figured out what the male equivalent of a tomboy is, but speaking as one, I am still irritated by this. Just because I preferred to hang out with the girls when I was a kid didn't mean I didn't like joining in a game of kickball or dodgeball now and then.

Besides, at my school, the girls (and I) mostly hung out on the jungle gym. It's not like there's a doily section on the playground. To my recollection, it seemed like the boys always played in the yard and suffered far fewer scrapes than the girls who skipped rope and played four-square on the blacktop. I wonder if they still have blacktops at schools?

Oh, and by the way, I did not grow up to be a queen any more than Tom grew up to be a pugilist. I didn't hang with the girls because I wanted to be one. I believe it's an old expression that goes, "I'm a lover, not a fighter."

Joel Farnham said...

Possible Sex Crime? Yeah, right! As if!

Well, when our "teacher/adults" are upset about this and think this is bad, why do we actually expect them to understand what civilization is made of?

EricP said...

Please pardon Porvaznik's potentially pesky pimping, but there's fortunately one college Professor who understands boys will be boys, and should be allowed to behave as their genetic makeup dictates. Proudly presenting the Radio Free Threedonia's interview with Dr. Alison Carr-Chellman: http://www.screencast.com/t/UOtMsmokbLw

Unknown said...

tryanmax: The male equivalent of a tomboy is an obama. As for "lover, not a fighter," I didn't learn that gambit until I got to college. LOL

Joel Farnham said...

Semi- Correction to my last comment. Evidently there is more involved than just simply a girl kissing a boy. I first heard this on Rush's show. Shortly after, a man called and said there was more to it. It involved what happened at home.

The unfortunate problem is that we are so used to abnormal things being brought out as normal (And we should embrace it!) that an normal item, girl kisses boy, is treated as abnormal NEWS and should be reported.

What also bothers me, is the woman who found out this information, didn't correct the impression. It was a man calling into Rush's show that put forth more information. I now don't know, if this was a bad situation found out by a teacher, or a teacher over reacting to a normal situation.

Since, the media has made it an active practice to lie and manipulate us, I stop really thinking that they are being true about something like this.

Unknown said...

Eric: Thanks. Here's the link: Radio Free Threedonia.

Unknown said...

Joel: Thank you for the correction. But simply put, the abnormal is normalized and the normal is punished in today's politically-correct society.

EricP said...

My favorite parent story from three years umping Burbank Little League: a mother asked the ump not to call so many strikes on her son because it was hurting his feelings.

Fortunately from one of my colleagues as I know my response would have been, "Can I please see his bat ...? Yup, seems to be in working order for him to swing it."

tryanmax said...

Lawhawk, I think Obama is a step beyond hangin' with the girls. As to learning the gambit in college, what took you so long?

Unknown said...

Eric P: Aha, an adult who has a grasp of the obvious!

Unknown said...

tryanmax: I guess I have to admit it. I'm a slow learner. LOL

Post a Comment